


Of Elves and Kisses

by AryaxJaqen



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), Jaqarya - Fandom
Genre: #SantaJaq2019, Braavos, Christmas Fluff, College, F/M, SantaJaq2019, Teenage Dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:54:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22578145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AryaxJaqen/pseuds/AryaxJaqen
Summary: I own nothing! Jaqarya belongs to George R. R. Martin.
Relationships: Jaqen H'ghar/Arya Stark
Comments: 11
Kudos: 525





	Of Elves and Kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ewinofthelake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewinofthelake/gifts).



> I own nothing! Jaqarya belongs to George R. R. Martin.

Each year in December, Braavos School of Arts hosted a week of Christmas celebrations. On the fourteenth day of the month, the ancient, black and white doors were ceremoniously opened and the Braavosi were invited to come and celebrate the holiday season with the students. The School's choir gave Christmas songs concerts and Izembaro's class performed holiday plays, each year a new one, written by the great Izembaro himself. They had Christmas food fair with delicious pies and candies and a real Santa was sitting on his red and gold throne so kids could come and whisper their Christmas wishes and take a picture with the kindly old man.

It was the part Jaqen liked the best. He liked seeing the amazement on children's faces when the moms sit them on Santa's lap. He didn't remember his own parents but he liked to imagine that long time ago his mother had cradled him in her arms and smiled lovingly like Braavosi moms smiled at their children. Professor Yoren said that she had done just that but Jaqen was too small when she died to remember.

Three years ago Yoren had chosen Jaqen as Santa's second helper. The first helper was Weasel, Yoren's adoptive daughter. She was a skinny little thing, all smiles and joy, she made the perfect elf. For Jaqen it felt as if he had gotten his long-gone sister back. Every year, after they had been done with the pictures, Yoren was taking them to the cozy old pizza shop where they spent the rest of the evening laughing, eating pizza and playing darts, and Jaqen felt as if he had been a part of this small family.

This year however Yoren announced that he and Weasel were taking a time off. From Weasel's not so mysterious smiles and giggles, Jaqen concluded that Yoren had planned something special for the two of them. The disappointment was overwhelming, Jaqen felt so excluded. He wasn't a part of the family, he was just a student that the kindly professor took pity on for a while. He didn't feel like celebrating Christmas at all.

Nevertheless, Jaqen obeyed. On the Friday afternoon, he showed up in Yoren's office and put on Santa's red coat. The coat had been made for Yoren and professor Forel before him, it was too short for the new Santa's long form. Though it didn't look that bad with Jaqen's red and white hair, streaming down to his shoulders. If he wasn't in such a bad mood, he would have noticed that he made quite a handsome Santa.

He sat behind Yoren's desk, waiting for the girl who was to be a new elf. Her name was Arya Stark. She was only sixteen but she had already become a star of Izembaro's group. The old professor gave Arya the best roles and praised her as the future of the Braavosi scene which was shocking because usually Izembaro praised only himself. Last summer, Jaqen saw Arya starring in Izembaro's 'Lady Lyanna's War' and he had to admit the picky professor was right, the girl had many gifts. She was petite and fragile in appearance but her presence made lasting impression. It was impossible to forget that lovely, pale face framed in waves of dark chestnut hair. The girl's grey eyes were enormous and so expressive that when Jaqen heard her reciting Lady Lyanna's oath in that sweet, vibrant voice of hers, it had been as if Arya was saying those words only to him. She was mesmerizing.

Jaqen heaved a long, miserable sigh. Spending this evening with Arya Stark wouldn't have been so bad if he wasn't so hopelessly in love with her.

He had been dying to ask her out since the very first time he saw her. But Arya Stark had a boyfriend. A burly, clumsy arrogant wrestler with all charm of a hammer. Jaqen couldn't steal another man's girl, there was no honor to it. Even though the girl had thrown him a glance, or two, that seemed to be saying she didn't mind to be stolen.

He had tried to avoid her. It was so hard to stay away from her. Luckily for him, Izembaro had a habit of keeping his students busy from dawn till dusk, and Jaqen could hide in his sculpture studio, pretending he was finishing his work for the winter exam, while all he had been doing for the last few months was drawing countless portraits of lovely Arya Stark.

Perhaps, he would have gotten over her eventually but by the end of October, all of a sudden, the girl had chosen to join the drawing course. It was an odd choice, she had no talent for that, she'd said, but she was willing to learn. From him. And so, for two weeks of a delightful autumn, Jaqen was drawing pictures to impress her. She liked castles and wolves and winter landscape of her homeland, far away in the North. She liked cats that Braavos was so full of. And dragons, dragons she loved the most.

Sadly, she also loved her boyfriend or so it seemed. Jaqen couldn't understand why that wonderful girl, that delicate northern rose that smelled so sweetly, dated such a coarse man. Each afternoon the guy showed up dutifully at school to pick her up, glaring at Jaqen with poorly concealed hostility. Soon Jaqen's beautiful dream had turned into a nightmare of jealousy that wrapped around his heart like a poisonous snake.

He had retreated to his hideaway and burned all her portraits in a dramatic attempt to cast that mad dream aside. On the third day of his solitude he finally started to work on his assignment - the sculpture of queen Nymeria that only by accident bore a faint resemblance to a certain girl from the North. He would have starved himself to death if Weasel hadn't dropped by every afternoon, bringing him whatever her father had cooked that day.

The door swung open and the cause of his misery strode in, jolting Jaqen back from his reverie. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes glittering like stars; she cradled a round, pink box in her arms.

'Hi, Jaqen!'

Seeing her after all this time did strange things to his heart. Jaqen sprang to his feet and hit his head against a rustling object that must have appeared out of nowhere. When he lifted his head up a green branch of mistletoe almost poke him in the eye. He took a step back abruptly and almost tripped over the chair behind him.

'Calm down, Santa.' Arya watched him, amused.'It's only mistletoe.'

'I know!' Jaqen caught his balance. 'Weasel must have left it here. I beg forgiveness.'

'Don't.' Arya put the box on Yoren's desk. Jaqen recognized a familiar childish handwriting, the box was the property of Lady Weasel. 'It's nice to see you losing composure once in a lifetime.' The girl took off her fitted grey coat and tossed it on the chair on her side of the desk. 'It's almost as if you were a human or something.'

'I am human!'

'You think?' Arya shot him a disappointed look.

It was a stab to his heart but Jaqen understood. It was a Friday night, she had plans, _they_ had plans, and she was stuck here with him.

'Our dear Weasel lend me her costume.' Arya patted the top of the box. She looked like a porcelain doll, flawless in her grey skirt and pink sweater embroidered with blue roses. And he was standing there in a worn Santa coat with sleeves too short for his stupid long arms. 'Well, I guess I'll change here.' Arya decided, not taking her eyes off him.

'You can use the bathroom...' He offered but it was too late, she was already pulling her sweater over her head. A see-through top she wore underneath left little to imagination. Jaqen gasped when he saw her pink nipples.

'By the gods!...'

He felt a rush of blood through his body and the pressure in his pants. He averted his eyes quickly. He moved to the window and stood there with his back to her.

'I'm so sorry!' The girl chirped apologetically. 'I spend too much time with the girls! We're always running around half-naked backstage!'

Jaqen pouted. So he was like a girlfriend to her!He shoved his hands into his pockets and curled them into fists. Maybe Yoren was right, maybe he should cut that hair. Or maybe he should take some acting classes. Izembaro wasn't that bad...

'You can look now, I'm decent!'

When he turned to her again, he saw Arya smoothing the striped, red and green stocking up her slim leg. She put one small foot on the chair and her fingers started their dance along her leg, moving slowly from her pointed toes, to her knee and up to the hem of her short skirt. She was tiny but taller than Weasel, the skirt barely covered her hips. She glanced at him over her shoulder and smiled sweetly. Then she repeated the procedure with the other leg.

Jaqen shut his eyes tight. She was so lovely it hurt. What had he done to deserve it?

'Don't you just love this time of the year?' Her voice was like the sound of crystal bells. 'The Great Hall looks magical with all the lights and that big tree! Christmas is the best season!'

'It's splendid.' Jaqen clenched his jaw.

He felt such an intense longing in his chest that it almost took his breath away.

Of course, he missed Yoren. And Weasel. He missed their pizza evenings. His life had been so good and simple but they didn't want him anymore. No one did.

'Ready?' Arya headed to the door.

'Just so.' Jaqen sighed resigned and followed her.

She must have picked up something in his tone. She stopped half-step and turned to look up at him. For a moment they stood in silence though Jaqen was sure she could hear the pounding of his heart.

'Jaqen.' Arya started hesitatingly. 'I missed you on our drawing classes. Without you it's not fun at all.' She whispered, almost accusingly.

'I had duties.' He should have thought about the excuses when Yoren told him Arya would be the elf this year. 'I owed Yoren a favor.'

'I owe Yoren too.' She leaned her back against the door, folding her arms across her chest. 'And here we are.'

'Just so.' Jaqen bowed his head. 'All men must serve.'

He reached to the knob but Arya didn't make a move.

'We broke up.' She said quietly. 'A month ago.'

Finally it hit him. A terrifying realization that she _knew_. His panicked brain decided denial was the best option.

'I don't understand.'

'That's too bad.' Her voice trembled slightly, her eyes flashed angrily. 'I hoped you would. Of all people, I hoped _you_ would.'

'A man... I didn't...'

Suddenly, Arya clutched the folds of his bloody red coat and climbing on her toes cut him off with a kiss. Even on tiptoe she couldn't reach his lips so her hot kiss landed between the corner of his mouth and his chin.

'I meant to do it long ago.' She breathed. 'Well, not like this.' She chewed her lower lip, blushing. 'Properly.'

'Long ago?'

He could drown in those grey eyes.

'It wasn't... I was so stupid, I just hated being alone!' Her lower lip quivered. 'Don't judge me!' She finished defiantly.

Jaqen leaned down to her, cupped her face gently and kissed that trembling lip.

'Was that a proper kiss?'

Her face softened immediately.

'More than proper, it felt perfect...' Arya smoothed her palm along his chest. 'But we better make sure.'

It was all Jaqen needed. He lifted her up as easily as if she were a kitten. Arya put her arms around his neck and wrapped those lovely legs of hers around his waist. They kissed softly at first, parted and kissed again, and again, hungrily, madly.

Until they heard pounding at the door followed by girlish giggles and Yoren's muffled voice, reminding them in mock anger that they had one job, just one job to do. 

* * *

Braavos School of Arts had never seen a Santa so happy before.

'Stop grinning, you're scaring the kids.' Arya giggled sitting a chubby toddler on his lap. The sparks in her grey eyes matched Jaqen's newly found holiday mood. 'Was my kissing that good?' She whispered to his ear while the boy's mom was taking a picture.

'Perfect.' Santa whispered back.


End file.
